alternator wire lighting up...

[Q's Stang]

alright well ive been having a bad problem w/ corrosion on my positive battery cable & my car wouldnt start today after work. well i got it jumped & it did nothing. then i kinda wiggled that wire & the wire to my alternator & noticed that the top wire on my alternator which goes to the power box by the battery was fried! well just the terminal that connects to the alternator & the plastic cover around it. well i wanted to test my battery & alternator & they were both fine, but the guy at the store noticed that the alternator wire terminal lite up like when you burn metal & it turns reddish, orangish whater. well im thinking that is why my car is acting up & wasnt sure what to do to fix it. i could either take it to a mechanic & have them fix it or replace the alternator wire. the guy at autozone said i might have a short in the wire & didnt want me to spend 20 bucks if that wire would go bad too. any ideas on what is wrong or how to fix it?!?!!?

 

[46gtsblown]

Check\clean all power and ground wires you can find. Not just the battery connections, there are several more just start following wires remove the connection and give everything a scrub with a wire brush.
Corrosion will cause a high resistance connection thus causing high current that could have lead to the damage you have found.
You can buy the ring terminal and solder on a new one to replace the damaged terminal.
Use some anti corossion compound on the battery terminals after you get them clean.

Dwayne

 

[Q's Stang]

i just looked at the wire that connects to the alternator & it is completely disconnected from the alternator. so i figured i should just go buy a new alternator & cable terminal & install it myself & hopefully that will fix the problem. im thinking that the alternator connection is what is causing the starting problem. buuuut does anybody have an alternator install writeup? it seems to be easy by moving the idler to loosen the belt then unscrew all the bolts & unplug the wires, buuut i just want be be safe!

 

[Nater]

Make sure your battery is unplugged, remove the belt, remove all wiring, remove the bolts and take out. Then reinstall in the opposite order. I've never done it on a Mustang but it looks very easy since it is right on top.

 

[Q's Stang]

yeah i just finished putting the alternator in...not bad at all. that was half the problem b/c the terminal was fried, but my battery wire connector was pretty bad too so i went to buy a new one & cleaned off the terminals too. started up no problem so hopefully no more maintenence for summer & more performance! next check buy rims or redo my whole intake?!